The Administration of Union Territory of Chandigarh is providing incentives to spur rooftop installations by private developers. The Chandigarh administration has targeted rooftop installation goal of 50 MW by 2022. The incentives announced include a central subsidy of 30 percent and an incentive for Residents’ Welfare Associations (RWAs) in the UT. Recently speaking at the inauguration of a solar power project in Chandigarh, the city Member of Parliament (MP) Kirron Kher asked the citizens to actively participate in rooftop installations and to take advantage of the 30 percent subsidy that is being provided by the government. A source at the Chandigarh Renewable Energy Science & Technology Promotion Society (CREST) told Mercom that apart from the central subsidy, the UT administration is providing a Rs.100,000 (~$1,501) cash award to the best performing RWA in Chandigarh.

Elaborating on the incentive program, the CREST official said that the UT administration is targeting rooftop installations for 2,000 residential homes over a one-year period. Among cities, Chandigarh is ranked number one for rooftop installations on government buildings, he said. To date, installations have been carried out in 120 buildings, but due to lack of information and awareness, the private sector installations have not picked up. The official said that once the RWAs are involved, the citizens will become aware of the benefits and this will help the UT to attain its target.

The CREST has created a website dedicated to providing clearances for rooftop installations by individuals or institutions as part of ease of doing business. The Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission for the state of Goa and Union Territories has mandated that the power generated from these projects will not be subject to merit order dispatch principle and will have a must-run status. According to CREST, 6.5 MW rooftop projects had been commissioned in Chandigarh as of March 31, 2016, and Mercom’s Rooftop Project Tracker indicates that a total of 8 MW of rooftop capacity has been installed in the UT as of September, 2016.